“You can’t tell the difference in trees by eye, but there must be something in the taste of the bark,” he said.

Demand for galas

Boileau and other growers are planting more galas as part of a three-year replanting program, which comes to fruition in two years.

“There a big demand for gala, and it’s not even 5% of the market,” Levasseur said. “It does well in Quebec and stores well but it’s harder to thin, and nobody wants a small gala.”

Honeycrisp, still a small part of the industry, also has grown in the past two years, she said.

“We were worried that too many people would get into it and produce lower-quality fruit,” she said, “but there’s so much talk about how hard it is to grow, only growers that really wanted to put in the extra work have planted it.”

Boileau, who grows 27 acres of the premium apple, finished selling them in February, his longest season ever.

“We tried SmartFresh on a few bins with nice results,” he said.

This year’s crop was less strong during the bloom, he said, which may mean the winter cold affected the buds.

He expects his empires and cortlands to finish in June, with mcintosh and spartans lasting longer.

Exports aren’t a priority for Quebec apple growers since they can’t even meet 50% of the demand in Quebec and there’s still room for growth, Levasseur said.

Boileau administrator Audrée Boileau said her family exports a little to Michigan and nearby New York state, but U.S. growers are paid less than Canadians for varieties such as mcintosh ,so it’s difficult to compete on price.